How to Prepare Your Inground Pool for a Hurricane or Major Storm

And now some storm wants to come in and mess up your oasis? Not today, Satan!

If a natural disaster is on its way, you can follow these guidelines to storm-proof your pool as much as possible. And this doesn't apply to only a hurricane or tornado per se, but any big storm, especially with high winds.

River Pools specializes in fiberglass pools, but we know all three types, and every pool matters to its owner, no matter the material it's made from. So we're here to help you protect it from bad weather.

There are two parts to storm-related pool care: "before" and "after." For best results, do both.

How to Prepare Your Pool Before the Storm

Ways to prevent major pool damage:

Put away your loose stuff

Turn off all gas, propane, and electricity to the pool

Leave the pool cover off

Balance the water chemistry (with algaecide if you like)

Don't drain the pool

If possible, trim nearby trees

Put your pool on your homeowner's insurance

Yes, that list looks kinda inconvenient...but not as inconvenient as your credit card bills if you don't help your pool out.

Put away loose items

Your tricked-out patio is awesome for lounging and parties, but all those amenities become liabilities when Hurricane McStormy comes into town.

If you can't bring free-standing furniture or decor into the house or garage/shed, don't put it in the pool. You could damage the interior finish. Instead, tie the item down to keep it from blowing into the pool. You may want to cover it with a tarp to keep it from getting wet.

Turn off the power

If it's supposed to rain enough for a flood, you may want to unplug the pump/filter system and other pool equipment and store them someplace high and dry, indoors (if possible).

Leave the pool cover off

Yes, this sounds counterintuitive. Yes, you should still do it.

Covering your pool would actually set the cover up for serious damage.

If any big debris blows into the pool, it could tear the cover off. Anything flying through the air could damage it. Plus, even if it did somehow manage to stay in place and in one piece, who wants to clean that much debris and water off a pool cover?

Balance the water chemistry

Test your pool water and add chemicals as needed to balance it out. This will give you a head start when cleaning the water after the storm has passed.

You can shock the pool if you want—superchlorinate with algaecide—for an extra boost against dirt and germs that the storm will throw into the water.

Don't drain the pool

You don't need to drain your pool before rain. In fact, you shouldn't. A drained pool can bulge, split, or pop up out of the ground. We in the pool industry call that a bad thing.

If possible, trim trees

Dead or overgrown tree limbs can break off in high winds, blow into your pool, and damage it. While you can't foresee exactly what Mother Nature has up her sleeve, removing these troublesome bits can help you avoid emotional and financial pain.

In fact, if you have the time, it wouldn't hurt to prune the rest of the landscaping, like bushes and shrubs. Some pool owners go as far as mowing the lawn too so that water doesn't get caught up in the grass when draining.

Put your pool on your insurance

This should already be taken care of, but just in case: insure that backyard beauty! If the pool does happen to need repairs after the storm, you don't want to pay for that 100% out of pocket. Gross. My bank account just wept a little at the thought.

How to Clean Up Your Pool After the Storm

Ways to recover from the wind and rain and inconvenience:

Turn on the pump and filter

Clean out any debris

If necessary, rebalance the water chemistry

Once again, do not drain the pool

Turn on the pump and filter

Caution: inspect the electrical components before doing anything with them.

If something was damaged, call a licensed pool repair company to fix it.

If any equipment got wet, let it dry out (minimum 24 hours) before trying to turn it back on.

Clean out any debris

Time to get everything out of the water. We want to avoid staining and damage, plus this stuff could mess up the water chemistry even further.

Pull out any big debris like tree branches or wayward lawn chairs.

Use a skimmer to remove leaves, bugs, and so on.

Brush and vacuum the pool

Once you've removed the debris, pull out your pool broom, brush, or vacuum.

Brush the walls and floor of the pool to get rid of serious grime.

An automatic robot vac will be able to clean up lighter levels of dirt for you. Thanks, li'l buddy!

Rebalance the water chemistry

Now that you've removed all the foreign objects, check your water levels in this order:

Total alkalinity

pH

Calcium hardness

Stabilizer (also called cyanuric acid or CYA)

Chlorine

Adjust as necessary to bring them back to the ideal ranges.

If you shocked the pool before the storm, you probably won't need to do it again, so that's cool!

Don't drain the pool

I said it before; I'll say it again. Really, truly, please leave your pool water level alone. It'll be okay.